Most Volunteer Hours records are created automatically when someone signs up through a public page, but coordinators often log them by hand for walk-ins, phone sign-ups, or group events. These steps describe logging one record manually. Field names below follow the V4S Volunteer_Hours__c object; Nonprofit Cloud uses the standard VolunteerHours object with similar fields.
- Open the volunteer's record
Find the Contact (or Person Account in Nonprofit Cloud) for the volunteer. Their related lists hold their hours history, so creating from there links the record to the right person automatically.
- Create a new Volunteer Hours record
From the related list, add a new Volunteer Hours entry. Connect it to the relevant Volunteer Job, and to a specific Volunteer Shift if the work was scheduled rather than ad hoc.
- Enter the time and dates
Set Hours Worked to the decimal amount actually contributed, and fill in the Start Date (and End Date if the work spanned more than one day). Use Number of Volunteers if this single record represents a group.
- Set the status and save
Choose the Status that matches reality: Completed for finished work, Confirmed for a locked-in future slot. Save, then confirm the record appears under the volunteer and on any shift rollups.
The volunteer who contributed the time. Links the record to the person so their total hours roll up correctly.
Decimal value for the time contributed, such as 3.5. Drives every aggregate report and in-kind valuation.
Where the record sits in its lifecycle: Web Sign Up, Confirmed, Completed, Cancelled, or No-Show. Controls whether the time counts as forecast or actual.
The date the volunteer worked. Required for time-based reporting and for ageing out stale commitments.
- Decide one convention per program for individual versus group entries; mixing them on the same object silently breaks hour totals.
- V4S and Nonprofit Cloud use different objects (Volunteer_Hours__c versus the standard VolunteerHours), so reports and flows do not port between them unchanged.
- Leaving overdue Confirmed records unflipped pollutes both forecasts and engagement numbers; schedule a nightly update to Completed or No-Show.